Using Social Media To Break Into The Music Industry

For new bands, social media presents opportunities that simply didn’t exist 10 years ago. I remember when MySpace appeared and overnight it was possible to share music with people around the globe.

Social Media has made the world a smaller place; it’s much easier these days to generate a buzz about your music, build a fanbase, and get the attention of key decision makers.

It’s an ever-changing landscape with new social media platforms emerging all the time. At the moment the main ones are Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Youtube, and Instagram, but this may change as new platforms grow in popularity, for instance Periscope and Snapchat.

Social media is an integral part of the music industry today. The biggest Twitter account in the world belongs to Katy Perry. Will I Am tweets from his chair on The Voice. Kanye West… erm, maybe the least said about Kanye the better! Your favourite artists and singers are more than likely on sites such as Twitter and Instagram in a bid to raise their profile and to stay in the limelight. Social networking could be the key when it comes to kicking off your career in music. It’s where people’s attention is.Even at your next gig, your audience can see you on stage in real life, but still have access to social media, so it’s important that you’re on there too.

Twitter

On Twitter you can follow (and if you’re lucky, communicate with) your music heroes. Twitter can also keep you in the loop of new developments within your field of music. You can use Twitter to build a local audience by engaging with people in your area, events and venues. Join the conversations that relate to your music. It’s possible to build recognition and hype before you’ve even played a gig. Or, if you’re already established, use Twitter to promote your gigs and music.

Facebook

Not only is Facebook a great way to connect with friends and family; it is also a method that can be used to reel in new fans. The trick to having a successful Facebook page is to interact with like-minded people and to post interesting things. You could start by promoting other musicians and then slowly slip in your own music in the process. Eventually, you’ll begin to see your fan-base grow which will be very rewarding. You can link your Facebook page to your own personal website in order to generate more followers.

Youtube

Youtube is without a doubt the biggest platform for sharing recordings with the world. So, why not create your very own music video? It doesn’t have to be uber-professional, viewers are accustomed to seeing clips taken on phones and ipads. There’s no better way to create a name for yourself than to allow people to see you in action; upload clips from rehearsals, gigs, and band banter. You’ll be surprised how interested people are in seeing the ‘real you’.

Soundcloud

Soundcloud has slowly morphed into a vast community when it comes to sharing your music with like-minded people who are on the same wavelength as you. You could explore the group sections to find your niche – then you could start uploading your tracks/music. In turn, you could listen and comment on the work of other budding music artists.

After all, the more you do this, the more that people will return the favour. One particularly handy trait that Soundcloud has is that it allows you to link it to various other music sites on the web. As a result, this will save you valuable time because you will not have to continuously upload all your songs whenever you join a new site.

It’s as tough as ever gaining traction in the music industry. The old techniques still apply; gigging, getting your demo out there, building a loyal fanbase and refining your art.

The way we consume music has changed. The format has changed. We no longer listen to an album from start to finish with no distractions. We listen to soundbites with many distractions. The audience is doing 2 or 3 things at once, listening to music, posting an update, taking a phone call – you’ve got to work even harder for your audience’s attention.

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